Tactical Considerations for Basement Fires
By Jerry Knapp, Rockland County Fire Training Center
House fires are our most important alarm. They are where civilians and firefighters die most often. House fires account for 78% of all fire deaths in the U.S., 71% of all injuries to fire and a civilian dies on average every three hours (every day) and property loss is about $7 billion each year, according to the NFPA. It is our most important alarm. Both civilian and firefighter’s lives are at stake. House fires account for 71% of fifirefighter on-scene deaths (per the NFFF).
Are you familiar with the famous Cherry Road basement fire in 1999 in Washington, D.C.? If you respond to house fires, you should be. If not, read the reports and learn how common a fire it was and how deadly it was with two Line of Duty Deaths. In summary: The fire came out of the lower floor of the row house (basement) and roared up the stairs at about 20 mph! Two firefighters were burned to death in the first floor living room (they both had hose lines) and a third had disabling burns over 35% of his body. How do we know it traveled that fast? The Underwriters Laboratory (Fire Safety Research Institute, part of UL) conducted extensive research into this fire and actually recreated the fire at a building exactly like the building at a fire training center near Philadelphia. I was fortunate enough to attend one of these live burns and what a learning experience it was.
Let’s get to the key tactical points.
1) Basement fires … get water on the fire through the basement windows and knock the fire down before you push down the interior stairs to mop up.
2) Fight the fire on its own level, not from above.
3) If there are no basement windows or outside doors, consider a cellar nozzle or bresnan nozzle down through a hole cut in the floor just inside the front door … no matter where the fire is in the basement, it will be effective. I did not believe it either, but the data from the live burns is clear.
4) The interior stairs are a chimney and no firefighters should be in it. It is death’s door. Use it only as a last resort.
5) Fight the fire from the level the fire is at. For a basement fire, do a 360 … is there a walk up door or clamshell doors with outside access, then use it. Don’t climb down the chimney (aka interior stairs) unless there is no other option.
So where does all this advice come from? Not from me. It is from UL’s Steve Kerber, Dan Madrzykowski and their group of fire researchers at Fire Safety Research Institute. Before you say it’s all just research, recall that the data and tactical considerations are all based on live burns of very realistic fires … not concrete burn buildings or what we think or believe! These are facts.
If you respond to house fires and may go to a basement fire you owe it to yourself, your family and brother and sister firefighters to take the free basement house fire course that is available online. Look for: “Understanding and Fighting Basement Fires.”
It will take you about 90 minutes, so get a beer, get a cup of coffee, whatever you like, sit back and you will learn a belly full.
Use it for winter training in your firehouse. It is stuff that will save your life, the lives of your crew and the caller’s house and possessions. And because you put the fire out and did not get burned, your loved ones do not have to visit you in the burn center. This training is that important. Take this free training.
If you don’t have time to do this simple training program, you should not go to a basement fire until you do … period.
Jerry Knapp is a 40-year veteran Firefighter/EMT with the West Haverstraw, New York, Fire Department and is a training officer at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona, New York. He is the Chief of the Rockland County Hazmat Team, a former nationally-certified paramedic and author of the Fire Attack chapter in the FF1-2 manual published by Fire Engineer and author of numerous articles on house fires. Battalion Chief Knapp is the author of the tactical and scenario-based reference book titled, House Fires. He is on the technical panel for the latest UL Study on Fire Attack at House Fires. He recently retired from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, as the Plans Officer, Directorate of Emergency Services.